


unrequited and all that implies

by ghoultown



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Accidental Relationship, M/M, Opposites Attract, cheery spencer, grumpy aaron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 00:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12805836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghoultown/pseuds/ghoultown
Summary: "i'm a grumpy depressed boy  and you're a peppy smiley boy and i accidentally said i'd date you but i hardly know you and i don't actually want to date you / oops we went on a few dates and i super like you" au





	unrequited and all that implies

Why did he say it? He sure as hell didn't know. 

It was two in the morning. He was taking a shower because he smelled like an entire weekend of not taking care of himself and drowning himself in his work, both legs shaking and the all the doors locked. He hadn't slept in a little while, and his hair was so greasy that it was staining his pillow case at night while he laid on his side, scrolling through his old texts and cringing at the wording.

But yes. He was showering, and he brought his phone because that was how he kept himself from passing out because of the warm, comforting water. He was in a lame conversation with the new recruit from work, and if he weren't so self-loathing and sleep deprived, he most likely wouldn't have been so into the conversation. It was fairly dull, no double texts or exclamation points. In fact, this was the first normal and caseless text conversation he'd had in about a month, which was around the time his brother texted to ask how things were going. Also around the time where he stopped sleeping.

So he was particularly susceptible to compliments and flattery. That was his excuse when the younger man from his team said that he 'liked him' (a bit juvenile) and asked if he wanted to 'go out sometime.'

He said yes. For some fucking reason.

-

He regretted it. Immediately after he sent that damned text and his screen was turning into rainbow static because of the gentle mist that was accumulating on the screen. He wasn't the type of guy to be held down by something so trivial as a relationship. Especially not now. But at that point, he knew that a simple "just kidding" wasn't going to cut it, so he just went with it. He was certainly a handful anyway. As soon as he rolled his eyes or said something stupid, the guy would break up with him when he realized how big of a mistake he'd made asking the (borderline grumpy) older man (from a quite gruesome career) out on a date.

So on Monday, after a long day of gnawing a hole into his bottom lip and glaring at anyone who even thought to mention it, Aaron dropped himself into a chair near the back of the room, and sure enough, a familiar messenger bag lands on the roundtable and a lanky man drops into the seat beside him. He feels bad, sure. He definitely feels bad when the brunette is obviously excited to see him. That won't last long, he figures.

He almost chokes on his own intake of breath when Spencer asks to hold his hand in the jet. He's hesitant. His automatic response is to say no, that he doesn't really want anyone to see, but he figures he lost that privilege when he made a decision while half-asleep in a shower at the worst time possible to make a big decision. It wasn't high school anymore. Any relationship started now would probably last awhile.

So he holds the damn hand, but he lends it to himself and doesn't force a smile. Baby steps.

_

First dates suck. They always had, even when he liked the person. And there was nothing to hate about the brunette, but still. It sucked. 

Spencer lived in too good of an apartment. He was already jealous of him, which wasn't ideal for a date in which he had to stay a few hours. But regardless, and surprisingly, Spencer made sure he stayed entertained. Even when he sighed and rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, nothing discouraged the brunette, who just wrapped an arm around his shoulders and turned on a film.

The movie sucked, too. Everything was the worst. The night took a turn for the worse when Aaron got his hands on alcohol and Spencer ended up having to tuck him in on the couch because he was too drunk to drive home and wouldn't tell Spencer his home address. And he actually slept for the first time in a month and a half.

The ride to work was okay, though. They liked the same morning music. 

-

Conversations did not come across easy. Often they proceeded as follows:

_Spencer_ _: Hey! How are you?_

_Aaron_ _, while drinking his body weight in coffee and drowning out the brightness of a hangover with heavy eyelids_ _: What does it look like._

_Spencer_ _: Do you need anything?_

_Aaron_ _, glaring: ..._

_Spencer_ _, obviously shrinking inside himself but still smiling: Well, I'll see you later tonight_ _!_

_Aaron_ _: 'kay._

But the brunette never showed any discouragement with him. It almost pissed Aaron off it hadn't been for his admiration of his constant and ever present positivity. And because of that admiration (peppered with a little jealousy), he allowed the dumb cheek kisses and continuous hand holding. Even if it dampened his menacing visage. 

The one thing he'd never allow that the brunette begged for was some sort of routine. He wasn't going to dedicate every Saturday night to domesticity that he didn't even mean to get into. He already had a routine. Friday nights were his self-deprecation nights, Saturdays were his drunk nights, and Sundays were his regret days. Spencer was determined though as if he knew that if he pulled those puppy dogs out, Aaron would give in.

After about a week, he did. And that weekend, for the first time during his new career as a single and sad man, he sat in a restaurant and ate without one morsel of alcohol in his system. And no matter how much he grumbled and groaned and played with his food, he liked the normalcy. Just a little bit.

-

Spencer knew things were changing, and he was elated by it, Aaron could tell. When he didn't complain about going out for things, Spencer would just grin and tell him interesting facts that he thought were relevant and would keep himself from laughing aloud when Aaron subconsciously nodded along.

Aaron hadn't been to a cafe in a good five years, yet he found himself carpooling with Spencer in the mornings and entering the same coffee-scented building every day. No complaints. No moaning. Truly a miracle. 

The real kicker was before their third miniature case of the day (the one case they would be split up for), when Aaron stopped in front of the door, paused, and pecked Spencer once on the mouth before walking calmly around the corner toward his own group.

-

He caught feelings. He certainly didn't catch them fast enough, but he did, and as soon as he and Spencer were in the same room after his realization, it was obvious that something was off. He'd never clung to someone's arm before. But that was who he was now.

And then he kissed someone without the purpose and intention of jump-starting a one night stand. He kissed someone in the middle of a public hallway. He tried to walk normally down the hall, but he could barely make it around the corner before slapping a hand over his mouth and peeking back around the wall, where Spencer was still standing in a goofy sort of shock. 

He hated this. Well, that was a lie, but he wanted to hate it. Oh, he wanted to hate it so hard, but he couldn't because he'd been brainwashed by the soda-pop brunette who wore too many bright colors and smiled too much and didn't ever intend for his hair to be shaped like a wave, but it always ended up that way. Damn him.

That night, just to make himself feel better and more in control, he slipped into a tattoo parlor before he and Spencer's dinner date to get himself inked. When he slid into the passenger seat of Spencer's car, the brunette noticed right away and grinned wide.

"I love it," he said, his voice crackly and bright, "It's the Fibonacci sequence!"

"Shut up," Aaron mumbled, tugging his sleeve to cover the tiny geometric tattoo he got between his thumb and wrist. "I just liked how it looked."

"Yeah, yeah," Spencer said, biting his bottom lip to stifle the ginormous smile on his face that was starting to hurt. If he mentioned that it was identical to the one behind his ear, the one he pointed out to Aaron a few days ago, he was sure he was going to get a firm slap across the shoulder, so he kept it to himself. 

- 

"Did you like me at first?" Spencer asked on their second monthiversary, his head in Aaron's lap as fingers twisted in his hair. He wasn't sure how he'd coaxed the grumpy man into watching the Great British Bake Off, but he wasn't going to mention it. 

"No," came the quick reply.

Spencer knew that part, but he waited for the rest of the reply. It never came. "So, why?"

"I don't know," he said, certainly. "I don't know what it was, really. I was texting you while in the shower--

"Texting in the shower," Spencer echoed, confused.

"I was sleepy and didn't want to slip and die, so I brought it in with me and then you popped the question and I just said yes on autopilot," Aaron shrugged. He leaned over, trying to look at him, "Are you mad?"

"No," Spencer said after thinking, "Surprisingly, that doesn't make me upset at all."

Aaron nodded and leaned back on the couch that he'd been getting slowly more acquainted with over the past months. "That's good, I guess."

"Had to add the 'I guess' in there, didn't you?"

"Of course."

 


End file.
